


In the daylight, anywhere feels like home

by roadsoftrial



Series: Grace Under Pressure [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: A dog is there, Fluff, Ignis is stubborn, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-World of Ruin, Prompto is obsessed, kind of pointless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 13:17:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12482468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roadsoftrial/pseuds/roadsoftrial
Summary: Prompto can't stop thinking about a thing he had forgotten about. Ignis is set on helping him retrieve it.





	In the daylight, anywhere feels like home

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know, man. I don't know.  
> I had these thought about an embarrassed Prompto buying Ignis a gift, and this is how it turned out.  
> It may have been an excuse to make a sick Dark Souls reference. No one knows...  
> (One day I'll write something with Noctis in it. One day...)
> 
> Let me know what you think!

 

When Ignis had told Prompto he wanted to help rebuild Insomnia, neither of them expected him to end up the one in charge of the entire operation, inevitable as it was. Try as he might, Prompto couldn’t picture anyone else more suited for the job, no one who cared about Insomnia as much as Ignis did. So here they were, six months after the sun had returned, with a capital that was slowly but steadily emerging from the rubble, rising from its ashes. It was a demanding job, one that kept Ignis busier than he’d ever been. Prompto understood, of course. But the sometimes days they spent not so much as seeing each other was taking its toll on Prompto. He understood, but, well, he had never been too good at being alone.

After a year, it became safe to live in the parts of the city Ignis had set his focus on. It was a big victory, for the refugees overcrowding Lestallum and the numerous outposts over the country, obviously, but also for Prompto, because it meant they got to live close to the Citadel, where Ignis’ team had established camp. The new living arrangement meant a drastic cut in Ignis’ commute time and for that alone, Prompto was selfishly thankful.

But there was still much to be done, and so Prompto still spent most of his free time alone. And when he was left with his thoughts for too long, he tended to obsess.

He’s not quite sure what sparked it. Maybe it was the fact that he was living in Insomnia again after being away for so long, maybe it was the newfound routine that had been almost entirely absent from his life for the past ten years. During those long hours spent alone, Prompto caught himself thinking about his old home, and about all the things in it he left behind, that he had given up on ever getting back. Then, one thing in particular started occupying all of his thoughts, something he had somehow forgotten about until now. Something he had bought a few weeks before they left on their trip, eleven years ago now, which had arrived on the morning of their departure, which he hadn't opened, which he had thrown on his bed in a hurry, so he could examine it properly once they got back from their trip. As the days went on, it became obvious to Prompto that he wouldn’t rest until he got it back.

He told Ignis after a month of agonizing over it. Told him it was something he had to do, as irrational as it seemed, even to himself. If Ignis thought he was crazy, he was kind enough not to let it on.

'I'll come with you,’ is all he said, a tender smile on his lips, their fingers intertwined.

But it was dangerous, and Prompto fought the idea for a long time before he finally caved.

'Don't you want to know what it is? Before we actually go ahead with this crazy plan?' Prompto had asked as they laid in bed the night before their outing.  
'If it's important to you, I’ll help you regardless. Besides, I'm certain you'll let me know in due time.'  
And Prompto had kissed him and curled against the lean, strong body, because it was such an Ignis thing to say, and Gods, he loved him.

But still, he didn’t sleep that night, mulling over the plan, anticipating everything that could go wrong, worrying about anything and everything.

He did fall asleep in the end, he noticed as Ignis gently shook him awake. He opened his eyes with a groan, trying and failing to be mad at the sunlight peeking from behind the curtain.

‘Wake up, love, we have a long day ahead.’

Another groan is all he managed to answer. Ignis leaned over him, bracketing him with both arms, pressing a soft kiss against his lips. Prompto, eyes still closed, raised a limp arm, combing Ignis’ hair back, gently scratching his scalp.

‘Ok, ok ‘m awake…’

‘Good,’ he said, not so tender anymore, pinching Prompto’s nose before quickly getting on his feet, heading towards the door. ‘Come, Mildred,’ he said with a tap on his thigh.

And to those words, a large wolf-like dog followed Ignis as he left the room, her step ever so light. That damn dog was so quiet, Prompto hadn’t even noticed she had been in the room this entire time.

Mildred wasn’t exactly a pet, nor a service dog. Ignis didn’t need a service dog. Prompto had found her as a puppy, alone in an alley in one of the abandoned streets of Insomnia. He had scooped her up before the pack of sabertusks roaming nearby could get to her. She had tried to bite him and growled at him the entire way back to the Citadel, but had mysteriously mellowed down the moment Ignis had touched her, and the rest was history. The two were inseparable, now, never going anywhere without the other.

‘Are you bringing Maneater Mildred?’ Prompto asked in a moan as he stretched across the bed.

A low chuckle.

‘I couldn’t leave her here if I tried.’

Prompto laughed as he slowly pulled himself out of bed. He didn’t feel too confident about their expedition, but they had been preparing all week for it, so there was no backing off now. He felt awful that Ignis had to take his first day off in weeks for this. Prompto had protested, tried to make him change his mind, but Ignis was nothing if not stubborn.

And so at 10 o’clock sharp, armed and clothed in their old hunter gear, they left their apartment, Mildred at Ignis’ heels.

Finding the house was harder than Prompto had anticipated. As a teenager, he had made the trek to the Citadel and back more times than he could remember, but it had been many years ago, and the city’s layout had changed drastically since. Even the GPS on his phone was rendered useless, when every other street it proposed was blocked off by collapsed buildings or occupied by hoards of wild coeurls. He regretted coming here. He should’ve waited, should’ve let the extermination team take care of the beasts, let the construction crews clear a path. He should’ve waited.

‘Ignis, let’s go back…’ Prompto whispered after a while, hooking a trembling hand to the back of Ignis’ jacket.

Ignis sighed, turned around so he could grip both of Prompto’s shoulders.

‘We’re doing this, Prompto. We’re not going back now.’

His voice was calm but commanding, firm, like Prompto hadn’t been the target of in years. Back when he was young and inexperienced and scared of everything and everyone. Back when Ignis often had to take over, hold the reins for him, so that Prompto wouldn’t drag them both down.

But he wasn’t that person anymore. He was strong now, he wasn’t a burden anymore. He and Ignis were a team, now.

He slapped his face with both his hands, hard.

‘Ok, sorry. Let’s go.’

‘Good,’ Ignis said dryly as he and Mildred took the lead, but Prompto could see the smile on his lips. He picked up the pace and grabbed his hand with a chuckle.

After much sneaking and some not entirely necessary fighting (for old time’s sake, Prompto had decided) they finally reached what was left of the house.

‘Here it is…’

‘I don’t suppose you have a key.’

‘You know me,’ Prompto laughed as he landed a swift kick on the lock, making the door fly open, a skill he had learned from years of fighting daemons in close quarters and helping refugees who had stubbornly locked themselves into their houses.

Holding his pistol with both hands, he slowly entered the building, quickly realizing no one had set foot in there since he had locked the door behind him eleven years ago. There was dust and dirt in every corner of the house, the fruit bowl on the kitchen table still in its place, its content long since rotten away into a black pile of dirt he wasn’t about to touch.

As he slowly made his way to his former bedroom, he got lost in all the pictures he had taken and hooked to the walls over the years. Noctis and him on their first fishing trip, on graduation day, on his Crownsguard acceptance ceremony… He felt his throat tighten. Those days seemed so far away now, like they were from a different life. Back when things were easy and light and fun, though they might not have seemed that way then. Without thinking, he started taking the frames off the walls.

‘Is this what you were looking for?’ came Ignis’ voice, a few steps behind him.

‘Um, no. Those are… just… old pictures. Of, y’know, me and Noct…’

‘Oh. I have space in my bag, if you want.’

‘Thanks, Iggy,’ he said in a low voice, stuffing the frames into the bag he was holding open for him, his hands lingering against his hands before he kept going.

At last, he found the stairs, ran up to the hallway.

'I see it, Iggy!'

And rushed up the hallway towards his old bedroom, leaving Ignis and Mildred at the bottom of the stairs.

‘At last, our mysterious McGuffin,' Ignis said with a laugh.

But Prompto didn't respond, and so Ignis climbed the stairs, walked towards Prompto’s room, like he had so many times before.

He found Prompto standing still by the doorframe. Walked up to him, slid a hand on top of his shoulder.

‘I can’t go in, Ignis,’ Prompto whispered.

‘Why not?’

A beat.

‘I don’t know.’ His breathing hitched, irregular, loud.

Ignis took hold of Prompto’s shaking hands

‘I just… I just realized…’

A deep, raspy breath.

‘Where is it?’

‘On… on the bed…’

Ignis lightly pushed Prompto out of the frame and reached the dusty bed with steady steps, in the same place as he remembered it. He brushed his fingers against the dusty blanket, stopping when he felt a small package wrapped in kraft paper. He quickly grabbed it and returned to hand it to Prompto, who was still standing in the hallway.

‘It’s… I’m so sorry Iggy. I made such a big deal about it, I made you come here…... It’s a really stupid thing, now that I think about it. It’s garbage. I’m so dumb, I’m sorry.’

‘Prompto. What is it?’

‘You’re going to hate me when I tell you.’

‘I won’t hate you, Prompto. You can tell me.’

‘It’s… you know when our anniversary is, right?’

‘September 16th.’

‘I… I… You know how Noct was supposed to get married at the beginning of September? And we would’ve been back in Insomnia a week after?

‘Yes?’

‘Well. I bought this… for our first year together. I… It came in the morning we left so I figured I’d give it to you once we got back… It’s crap though, I don’t know what I was thinking…’

‘Prompto…’

‘I just… I had forgotten about it until now, and I… In retrospect, it’s a really shitty gift.’

‘Prompto. May I still have it?’

‘I… I mean, sure, if you want. But it’s… really stupid.

‘Please, Prompto.’

‘I… huh… ok.’

And Prompto handed him the package.

Ignis took a long time to open it, carefully ripping it open without tearing the packaging. He then slipped the translucent pouch it contained into his hand, struggled to open it, finally managed.

He slipped the content of the small plastic pouch into his hand, slowly still. Took it in his fingers, trying to make sense of what he was holding.

‘It’s stupid, Iggy, don’t worry if…,’ Prompto kept mumbling, but Ignis ignored him.

‘It’s… a gun?’

‘It’s a gun-shaped pendant… Kind of like the one I use… It’s to… to put on your chain, next to the little skull. I thought it was cute at the time, I don’t know…’

‘Little help, love?’ Ignis interrupted as he tugged on the thin chain around his neck.

‘You don’t have to wear it, Iggy…’

‘I know.’

Prompto breathed out, walked slowly behind Ignis, wiped his hands on his jeans and tried to steady them enough to unhook the silver clasp. After numerous attempts, he finally succeeded, and Ignis handed him the small pendant, which he slipped onto the chain with slightly safer hands. Once the clasp was back into place, he took a step back, allowing Ignis to turn and face him as he pulled the pendant to the front, resting it next to the silver skull right on top of his sternum.

‘How does it look?’

Prompto took a deep, whimpering breath. He wanted it to look stupid, to have him take it off, to throw it away and never mention this train wreck of a situation again. But as embarrassed as he felt, it just… fit there. It fit perfectly, as if it had always been there.

‘It… It looks good, Iggy. Do you… um, do you… like it?’

Ignis grabbed Prompto’s jacket, pulling him towards himself. An arm curled around his waist as his other hand dropped the cane it was holding to tangle itself into Prompto’s hair, lightly encouraging it towards the crook of his neck. Just like he knew Prompto liked to be held. Prompto melted into the touch, his arms wrapping around Ignis’ waist, grasping as if to never let go.

‘I love it, Prompto.’

Ignis wasn’t crying, he really wasn’t. His voice was a little tight, a little breathier than his usual, poised self. Prompto may have been crying a little. He inhaled deeply against Ignis’ skin, closing his eyes, forgetting where they were, what day, what year it was.

Ignis had stayed by his side all this time, never so much as flinching, never questioning it. And in a heartbeat, Prompto was back to that first year, to the day he had hesitated to buy the pendant, back to the agitation, the doubts, the paranoia that Ignis might not actually like him that much, Ignis who he liked so much, who he had been in love with since he was a teenager. And back to Noctis, who he had shown the pendant to, Noctis who had encouraged him to buy it just like he had encouraged him to ask Ignis out in the first place, Noctis who thought the gift was such a sweet idea, despite his personal guarantee he was going to make fun of Ignis for days if he wore it. That’s what had made Prompto take the leap, buy the gift. It was all thanks to Noctis.

Everything he and Ignis had in this life was thanks to Noctis.

***

‘Are you two _crazy_??’ Gladio had almost yelled, incredulous, when Ignis had finally told him, after much insistence, the reason for his day off.

‘It wasn’t that bad, Gladio,’ Ignis shrugged, only aggravating him further.

‘You should’ve called me, at least! What’s wrong with you?!’

‘There was no need,’ Ignis laughed. ‘We made it safe and sound.’

‘Whatever…’ he grumbled. ‘What did you even go there for?’

Ignis slid his thumb under the thin chain around his neck, pulling the charm towards Gladio.

‘What is that?’

‘A gift, eleven years in the making,’ Ignis simply said. Because that’s really all it was, at the end of the day.

‘I don’t get it.’

‘It’s quite alright.’

‘You’re both insane.’

‘Yes. Yes we are.’

**Author's Note:**

> (I'm on [tumblr](https://thelegendarynoctgar.tumblr.com), come talk to me!)


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